Monday
November 7
BABYLON'S FORTRESS (Rev 14:8; 16:13, 14, 19; 17:1-5, 18).
Babylon signifies apostasy at its most ingenious, industri-
ous, and deliberate level. It makes its first appearance in em-
bryo form not many generations after the Flood. By gathering
into one huge cluster, the mass of humanity acted contrary to
God's instruction to disperse over the whole earth (Gen. 9:7).
They resolved to build a city and a tower for their protection,
fortification, and fame. Thus they saw Babel, their new city in
the plain of Shinar, as the prospective capital of a universal
empire, whose splendor would command the homage of the
world. Because rebellion against God and exaltation of self
were at the heart of this project, the Lord scattered the partici-
pants and divided the languages of the world to check the
progress of evil. See
Patriarchs and Prophets,
pp. 118-124, "The
Tower of Babel."
What is Babylon explicitly said to be? Rev. 14:8; 16:13, 14,
19; 17:1-5, 18.
While Babylon symbolizes any false religious system, in the
last days it will specifically involve the worldwide union of the
papacy, apostate Protestantism, and modern spiritism. At God's
command, this union will lose its power, just as did the first
city of Babel (Rev. 16:17; 17:17). See
SDA Bible Commentary, vol.
7, p. 847.
"It [Babylon] cannot be Pagan Rome, but Papal Rome, if a
particular seat of error be meant, but . . . the judgment (ch. 18:2)
and the spiritual fornication (ch. 18:3), though finding their
culmination in Rome, are not restricted to it, but comprise the
whole apostate Church, Roman, Greek, and even Protestant, so
far as it has been seduced from its 'first love' (ch. 2:4) to Christ,
the heavenly Bridegroom, and given its affections to worldly
pomps and idols."—Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, eds.,
Com-
mentary on the Whole Bible
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan,
n.d.), on Rev. 17:2.
"By her [Babylon's]
daughters
must be symbolized churches
that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her ex-
ample of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order
to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of
Revelation 14 announcing the
fall
of Babylon must apply to
religious bodies that were once pure and have become cor-
rupt."—The
Great Controversy,
pp. 382, 383.
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